The US public health debate over safer alternatives to cigarettes – e-cigarettes, Swedish snus and other non-combustible products – is explored by public health physician Dr. Joel Nitzkin and host Jim Engster on his show Talk Louisiana for WRKF-FM Baton Rouge, an NPR affiliate station. The discussion includes youth uptake of e-cigarettes, differential tobacco taxes, and non-combustibles as an effective cessation strategy for adult smokers.
Dr. Joel L. Nitzkin, senior fellow in tobacco policy for the R Street Institute, is a public health physician, board certified in preventive medicine as his medical specialty. He has been a local health director, a state health director and president of two national public health organizations. Since the mid-1990s, Joel has been in the private practice of public health as a health policy consultant. In this capacity, he has taken on a number of research and teaching assignments for federal, state and local public health agencies; assisted with accreditation of a managed care organization; and done substantial expert witness work related to communicable disease control, quality of health care, and tobacco control.
Further Reading
Dr. Joel Nitzkin presents a clear case for flavors in e-cigarettes in this 2014 paper written for the Food and Drug Law Institute. On suggesting the paper as a resource for the general public in a recent radio interview, Dr. Nitzkin commented, “While ancient history in terms of e-cigarette research, all of the findings and conclusions are still valid. The paper also includes a description of how I became involved in this set of tobacco control issues.” www.rstreet.org/2014/07/09/e-cigarettes-a-life-saving-technology-or-a-way-for-tobacco-companies-to-re-normalize-smoking-in-american-society/
“Two Doctors on a Mission to set the record straight about Smokeless Tobacco and its impact on Public Safety.” Huffington Post https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/two-doctors-on-a-mission-to-set-the-record-straight_us_58f96d42e4b0de26cfeae28c
